1X08 HONOR THY FATHER

Aired the week of November 20, 2000

The Queen of Swords risks life and limb to liberate two men captured by Montoya. The first, Raul, knows who murdered Tessa's father, and the second, Churi, knows the grief of such a loss. But breaking the two out of prison is just the beginning. Raul, a man motivated by greed alone, learns of Tessa's secret identity and uses it against her, putting Tessa and Marta in the line of Grisham's fire, while Churi's quest to free his father's spirit leads the Queen to looted treasure and a surprising accomplice.

WRITER: Durnford King
DIRECTOR: Brian Grant

GUEST STARS:
RAMON CAMIN as Raul
GAEL GARCIA BERNAL as Churi

Well, what a sigh of relief to see that our heroine's identity and alter ego "the Queen" that was placed in jeopardy by the writer of this story was ultimately and very strategically not revealed. The episode written by Durnford King, directed by Brian Grant and produced by Tony Thatcher had a storyline that was very mysterious, dramatic and with a light touch of humor. A different twist that provided the viewers a chance to learn more about Tessa's quest in learning the truth about her father's death.

I thought the night scenes were a nice switch from all the day scenes in the other episodes. There are not many night sequences and this episode had quite a few great scenes which is not often seen. I'm sure for the actors and crew a night sequence is much more welcoming then the sun and heat of a day shoot. I liked the fact that in this episode, the director gave the viewers a great opportunity to see the town a little more. The director shows some different shots and angles of the different buildings in the town. The director also provided some excellent coverage of the landscape and surrounding scenarios of Almeria. Always nice to see the countryside.

Tessa shows that she is a very intelligent woman. Her method of trying to get information from Raoul by asking him to write down who killed her father in order to have evidence for the Spanish court was very smart.

The dialog between Dr. Helm and Tessa regarding the misunderstanding of her leading a double life was a very sneaky way in which the writer introduced some intrigue of "I know who really are", but "you have me mistaken". That was a tricky way for the writer to introduce that Dr. Helm had figured out Tessa's other identity, but in reality it was just Dr. Helm's way of telling Tessa that he had disapproved of her actions. I loved it!

Tessa's moment of anguish and helplessness is revealed when she and Marta are talking about how, in no matter what way, she needed to know if her father suffered before he died. In her desperation she was willing to risk her identity in order for Raoul to give her the information she needed. Marta, as always, tells her that she tortures herself to much and always gives Tessa her opinion of what she should do and to be careful in the process. I liked the way the camera from overhead showed Marta's tarot cards. It is not often that the viewers get a chance to see Marta show her wisdom and prophecies when she reads the tarot cards for Tessa.

My favorite scene took place in the jail cell. When I saw Tessa dressed up as a nun and wearing those thick glasses, I just had to crack a smile. My favorite lines was her telling the soldier:

TESSA: Then prepare your soul to join theirs in the everlasting fires of hell, may God and the worms have mercy on you.

I loved this line!! Its about time that the Queen leaves behind another tarot card. Sometimes the stories don't show her signature card that often.

I just have one unresolved question? When Tessa walked into the jail she wasn't wearing anything but glasses, leaving her face exposed. Then, obviously she breaks the prisoners out of jail and flees on horseback with them. Then the viewers see how the nuns clothing are left on the ground as the three people on horseback continue their journey to seek safety. In the scene that follows, the viewers see the Queen, who supposedly had shed the nuns clothing, traveling with Raoul and Churi, the Shaman. We see the Queen wearing the Queen's clothes and lace mask. At what point did Tessa make the switch to the Queen and didn't the two men notice it. That has me confused.

Another favorite line:

MONTOYA: You confuse the Queen of Swords with a nun, are you blind as well as stupid?

He was definitely not to happy. We know that Colonel Montoya is a very astute person and his desire in wanting to know why the Queen would free a deserter like Raoul and for what purpose definitely gives him more suspicion in her action. He knows there is something more and he wants to find out.

I liked the way the writer wrote the scene in which the Queen, after having left Churi with Dr. Helm, arrives back at the hacienda and greets Marta in the living room. The Queen walks in and while talking with Marta, Tessa sits and lifts her lace mask over her face. She is so confident and safe to expose herself in her own home that she is unaware she could be discovered. The viewers don't get to see this exchange of the Queen and Tessa often. The scene was very well presented and it would be nice to see more in future episodes.

Marta's intuition and her constant fear of having Tessa's double life revealed is shown when both she and Tessa think quickly how to save the situation that Raoul placed them in by pretending the Queen had visited them in order to throw Captain Grisham off track. Marta proves to be just as clever as Tessa. The scene was well done.

The encounter between Tessa and Raoul over the fact that he knows about her other identity was a great scene.

Anthony Delongis wrote on his website - www.delongis.com:

For example, the script for "Honor Thy Father" called for the crucial attempted rape and pitchfork fight between Tessa and Raoul to occur in a stable. We didn't have a stable set either in town or at the Hacienda location and there certainly wasn't time in our overcrowded shooting schedule to shift the entire cast, crew and all the equipment to yet another location. To solve the problem, we cleaned up a junk-filled yard adjacent to the hacienda and let the art department work their magic. They added bamboo thatching to cover a modern-looking corrugated roof, covered metal pipes and electrical conduits, and added a wagon, a carriage, and a horse tethered inside. Voila - a carriage yard.

The director, Brian Grant, also wanted the rape to be foiled in the yard and the fight to climax at the top of the hill near the graves of Tessa's father and mother, because it would make the scene more dramatic and poignant. There was no way we could have motivated the 200 yard uphill travel from the hacienda proper, so we had to create "television geography". Rather than the carriage yard, we showed the horse and the actors exit from an abandoned livestock shed closer to the graves on the opposite side of the hill from the house. We didn't have the time and manpower to clean out and dress another set, so we positioned cameras to only show the exit of the horse and Raoul's pursuit of Tessa - a simple problem that needed to be solved to tie the action of our fights together. It wasn't perfect but it told the story and got the job done.

The fight sequence was very powerful. I like how Tessa made the backflip from the carriage to get away from Raoul. Then it shows how Tessa could defend herself with a pitchfork to save her life, but in the process kills the only person willing to tell her any information about her father's death. Very dramatic. I'd like to know how could Tessie fight and run up the hill wearing her long dress. It must be totally uncomfortable to do a scene that involves clothing that could hamper the situation. She did a great job of it.

The sword fight sequence with Colonel Montoya and the Queen was very well presented. Both individuals did an excellent job in this action shot. I believe the stunt woman who did the sword fight was Roberta Brown. The leap of the Queen from the balcony down to her awaiting horse was a great move. Very Nice!

This episode provided the viewers with yet another taste of Tessa's quest to learn about her father's death. I really liked the storyline and how it left so many unresolved mysteries. Kudos to everyone for a very poignant episode.

~Margie~